JEFFERSON CITY - The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission today approved a new five-year transportation construction program that shows spending for Missouri's roads and bridges will plummet in fiscal year 2010, which begins July 1, 2009, to a program where limited funding will only cover minimal maintenance and safety work.

The 2009-2013 transportation program includes $300 million in new construction projects because lengthened bond terms and lower than expected interest rates provided additional Amendment 3 bonding capacity. The $140 million bonded amount, combined with state savings from using Practical Design on projects and local matching funds, allows the Missouri Department of Transportation to tackle these new highway projects over the next five years, including additional lanes, interchange improvements and congestion relief.

"Even though it's great news to be able to pursue this additional work, we can't overlook that in this program the Amendment 3 bond proceeds are used up, and our state transportation program goes back to critically low spending levels," MoDOT Director Pete Rahn said. "The program that's been approved marks the shift from having the opportunity to build new projects to barely maintaining what we have."

Missouri transitions from a construction program averaging $1.23 billion to a construction program of about $575 million in 2013. Compounding the funding problem is an expected decline in federal revenue, and rising fuel and construction costs.

"We have seen great progress due to Amendment 3," Rahn said. "Missouri must now have a conversation about what is to come regarding continued improvements to our transportation system."

The 2009-2013 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program lists all transportation projects planned by state and regional planning agencies for fiscal years 2009 through 2013 (July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2013). It totals $5.8 billion, with approximately $4.35 billion going to about 730 highway and bridge projects, about $810 million to other transportation modes and approximately $640 million to local transportation programs.

"We used an extensive public involvement process to develop this program and have worked with our planning partners from communities around the state to identify and prioritize these projects," Rahn said.

The 2009-2013 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program includes transportation improvements identified by metropolitan planning organizations in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Columbia, Jefferson City, Joplin and St. Joseph. The STIP projects located in these areas are subject to discussion and approval by the appropriate metropolitan planning organization.

For more information, contact MoDOT's customer service center at 1-888-ASK-MODOT (275-6636) or call the local MoDOT district offices. For a complete list of projects or for maps showing all highway and bridge projects, and corridors to be completed with the STIP, visit the department's Web site at http://www.modot.org/.

JEFFERSON CITY - Along with building new roads and bridges and repairing old ones, the Missouri Department of Transportation's construction program on average creates more than 9,000 new jobs each year and adds almost $900 million to Missouri's economy. The program annually generates:

· $16.2 million in new general revenues;

· $332.5 million in new personal income; and

· $544.7 million in new value added to the economy.

MoDOT's construction budget, however, will nosedive in 2010 taking the economic impact with it.

"Missouri's transportation program benefits all of us by providing better, safer roads and bridges," said MoDOT Director Pete Rahn. "These improvement projects in turn create jobs and bring revenue to our local communities. Unfortunately, the benefits will lessen in future years as declining state and federal funding -for transportation and rising fuel and material costs cause our construction program to shrink."